Nonstop flight route between Nairobi, Kenya and Cold Bay, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO), Nairobi, Kenya and Cold Bay Airport (CDB), Cold Bay, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,553 miles (or 13,765 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Cold Bay Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Cold Bay Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO):

• An addition to the existing terminal building, Unit 4, is under construction at a cost of 9.4 billion Kenyan shillings and is slated to open in 2013.
• Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) currently has only 1 runway.
• A new instrument landing system-equipped runway 5,500 metres in length has been approved for construction at a cost of 12.8 billion Kenyan shillings.
• The furthest airport from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,621 miles (18,703 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) is Wilson Airport (WIL), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) W of NBO.
• The airport served 5,803,635 passengers in 2011, making it the ninth-busiest airport in Africa by total passengers.
• Because of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport's high elevation of 5,327 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at NBO. Combined with a high temperature, this could make NBO a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The groundbreaking of a new passenger terminal dubbed the "Greenfield Terminal" with a capacity of 20 million passengers was held on 3 December 2013.
• On 5 August 2013, an airlock in the main pipeline that delivers jet fuel to the airport caused all inbound flights to the airport to be diverted to other airfields.
• Jomo Kenyatta International Airport handled 580,363 passengers last year.

Facts about Cold Bay Airport (CDB):

• In addition to being known as "Cold Bay Airport", other names for CDB include "Cold Bay Air Force Station" and "Fort Randall Army Airfield".
• Because of Cold Bay Airport's relatively low elevation of 102 feet, planes can take off or land at Cold Bay Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• Between 1956 and 1958, Cold Bay Airport was used as a logistics support base during the construction of Cold Bay Air Force Station, a Ground Control Intercept station for Alaskan Air Command during the Cold War.
• The closest airport to Cold Bay Airport (CDB) is King Cove Airport (KVC), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) ESE of CDB.
• The furthest airport from Cold Bay Airport (CDB) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,968 miles (17,652 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• Cold Bay Airport (CDB) has 2 runways.
• According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 9,105 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 8,968 enplanements in 2009, and 9,261 in 2010.
• Fort Randall AAF was also used by the United States Navy during the Aleutian campaign.